


Crash and Burn

by AmeLee23



Category: GOT7
Genre: Accidental Yugbam, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Angst, Backstory, Broken Engagement, CEO Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Confused Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Daddy Issues, Desert, Eventual Romance, Exploring, F/M, Forests, Love Triangles, Romance, Slow Burn, Soft Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Survival, nature is freaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24493381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmeLee23/pseuds/AmeLee23
Summary: Buildings sank into the ground right before our eyes. Huge cracks formed underneath our feet. It was like the Earth wanted to eat us alive.All this time, I blamed Mr. Park for my unhappiness. I couldn't understand why he saved me.But the time we spent together led us to discover truths about ourselves and the world we once trusted.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/ Reader, Im Jaebum | JB/Original Female Character(s), Park Jinyoung (GOT7)/Original Female Character(s), Park Jinyoung/ Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. I

Somehow, concentrating on the buzzing light above the table brought me a sense of comfort. I had always thought, that this place was a paradise compared to the conditions the others had to endure. The electrical poles were still standing- and if they were not, we were able to prompt them into a good enough position so the wires wouldn't be too tensed. That resulted in having light, communication devices, in a world that didn't seem as giving anymore.

However, all these good things that we had, we were always reminded by a certain someone that they don't last forever. That the smallest of mistakes could destroy all that makes our hearts whole today. Perhaps this is why I was staring at the light; why I suddenly got so appreciative over something like that. I couldn't bear to focus on his heavy words, even if I knew they already got under my skin.

Ignorance is bliss, or so they say. 

"-so like always, the cars will stop 10 meters away from our camp. Please be sure to perform timed shifts to carry the supplies in the specified parts of the camp."

He was so thorough, organizing the details and working us to the morrow of our bones. Deep inside, I knew he was doing it for our safety, but there was still some of that insufferable CEO attitude in him that I couldn't help but detest. 'People need to be guided, and I'm the one that shall.' - that's what he said to us one day, and I can't seem to get it out of my head. That lip service, empty words, turned into truth, making his presence even more frustrating. He managed to build so much for us, but it's like the devil never sleeps, and he keeps making us anxious about our misdeeds. This perfection that he expects, does he know we don't have it?

"We should be done by sunset. Please take it slow and carefully." With that, everyone got ready to leave. "You, a word." He pointed to our merchandise inspector, Mark, who didn't seem surprised at all.

"What is it, Mr. Park?" I told myself not to pay heed to their conversation. I gathered my papers and got up to leave, and only then I realized they were waiting for me to actually leave before starting their discussion. I scoffed without knowing, and I saw Mr. Park raise a brow at me.

Out of the main tent, I traveled through the hallways made out of the same textile material to reach an opening. There were no such things as air conditioning, and the tents did nothing to ease the heat coming from outside. In fact, it was even worse to be inside- my lungs were begging for some fresh air.

The sun was merciless, and I could feel the heat of the soil even through heeled boots. I had nothing to do for a while, so I sought my old ragged blanket and lain it outside, under a small portion of shadow cast by the tent. That was usually where I sat, waiting for the cars to pierce the horizon line, blurry from the heat waves. The thoughts came to me as my nerves calmed, and suddenly I was thinking of peaceful times.

Thinking of rain hitting the asphalt, of that chilly feeling- of watching it pour over feeble flower petals from the window of my apartment. I was at home, playing a long forgotten vinyl. Food sizzled in a pan, and that loneliness I once had seeped into my body. Beautiful memories like these, they can't help but be accompanied by a deep rumble, growing stronger and louder- and then I could see it, hear it, feel it all crash and burn. Buildings sank into the ground, right before our eyes. Huge cracks formed underneath our feet. It was like the Earth wanted to eat us alive, just like we had done to it so many years. The last remaining radio stations blared - apocalypse, they said. But before long, the entire planet shook gravely and it split open- something about tectonic plates moving out of place. The Earth's core's heat bubbled to the surface and now it is even more fragile.

They said it was our fault. The planet couldn't stand the weight of our buildings anymore, so it caved in. The weight we put on our planet's shoulders, it was too much. We mistreated her, poor Lady Terra. And now she's crying for help, but there's nothing left for us to do. We can only work hard to save our own skin, since apartment buildings, facilities, even high story houses- they're all gone. Mountains caved in on themselves. I recently saw a picture of the Eiffel Tower sticking out of a gigantic hole, one that looks like a meteorite crater from movies. Except this was all real.

Humans have a history of being adaptable, though. Alike any other mammal that fights for its survival. Therefore we found ways around this- tent like homes, scarce cars and all natural diets, along with 'diy' equipment. Everything to keep the weight to a minimum.

However, our leader; Park Jinyoung - whose first name I never actually heard spoken out loud - was so minutious that he arranged multiple storage places, and doesn't let more than two people near a car. He's just, that careful.

A voice brought me out of my trance, followed by rapid footsteps. It was Yugyeom, our resident sunshine. Not like we needed more of it with all this heat, but he's a good kid. He came to tell me the cars were almost here. True to his words, I could see them bumping on the terrain in the distance until they were close enough for me to hear the crunching of the dry rocks underneath the wheels.

Strangely enough, the two cars that came by today parked right next to each other. I knew Mr. Park wouldn't be happy about it, but it's not like I'll actually go rat them out. We all organized like we usually did, and began our shifts to carry the supply crates to our two different storage spaces. Mark carefully looked through the items and Yugyeom carried two crates at once, with a big smile on his face. There must be something in there that he was expecting, I thought. His eyes sparkled when I reached out to tell him he did a great job. He sat down in the external tent and began tinkering with something before I knew it.

I returned to the cars for the last batch, Mark nodding to me briefly before he headed to join Yugyeom in doing whatever they were so excited about. I'm sure they'll let me in on it, later. The last items in the car were resting on the back seat, a bunch of high capacity backpacks. Come to think about it, I think Mr. Park did mention something about finally going exploring around the place.

"Why in the hell did no one tell me the cars are right next to each other?" I heard the snarky tone and knew immediately who it was, but it wasn't really my problem. The drivers were the ones that disrespected his rules, not me.

"You should take it out with the drivers, sir." He seemed surprised for a split second, seeing me lift my head out of the car with the backpacks in my arms.

"Damn right I will." He muttered, crossing his arms.

I was about to make my way back to the main tent when Mr. Park's arm appeared in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. He look panicked, and I couldn't understand it until I looked at the ground. The pebbles were shaking-- more and more until the ground grew so unstable that it was hard to keep my balance. It was a matter of a few seconds; me and Mr. Park were leaning on the car for support, watching, paralyzed, as the ground cracked in front of our eyes.

The tent leaned on the side, chunks of earth lowering faster and faster, the dusty rocks were seeping down into an rapidly growing hole.

I was pushed into the car with a force that knocked the air out of my lungs. Being stopped by the window in the passenger seat, I tried to gather my surroundings, spotting Mr. Park grab the gear stick and turning the car around in a fast, risky movement. Sick from the turn, I tried to find the rearview mirror to see if any of our camp members had the same idea- but what I saw made my heart sink and my stomach sick. The second car just slid into a giant crater, landing with a horrible noise. It was all gone-

"Don't look." He told me, through gritted teeth. I closed my eyes and bit back a sob, thinking of Yugyeom and Mark's happy faces from just a few minutes ago- they were fine, weren't they? They can't just, be gone, like that, in a second? A heavy, pressing feeling made my chest tighten. Rumbles followed us for a while, until it went dead quiet besides the crunch of rocks and engine crying out loud in this merciless heat.

I finally opened my eyes back up, and saw nothing but orange vastness all around us. No trace of our camp, of an end or even a beginning. What's more, Mr. Park wasn't watching the road. His head was hanging low, knuckles turning white from the way he was gripping the steering wheel. I heard something I never thought I'd hear, which was a quiet whimper leaving his lips. Stupid as I was, I called out to him.

"Sir?" There was no response for a while. He sniffled and sighed, until he limply leaned backwards on the seat. Old tears were dry on his face, his hazel eyes grayed from suffering.

"I told them, didn't I?" He spoke through gritted teeth, wiping his face with his sleeve and forcing his eyes to stare at the road again. "I told them to be careful." His tone was gradually getting steadier and louder, the pained whimpers now replaced by resentment. "Two dumbasses is all it took to destroy everything I've worked for... the people I swore to protect, they're..." He couldn't finish his sentence, and he didn't need to. I knew exactly what it meant, and why he was crying his eyes out right now. I would too, if my soul wasn't so dried out. All I could do is sit silently and watch him writhe in sobs, taking in this secluded impression he just ingrained in my brain.

The worst of it, is that he was right. Two cars next to each other was enough weight to send our camp sinking into the ground. His words, that I despised for so long, that kept me up at night, have become the ultimate truth. I tried to sympathize with the burden on his shoulders, the guilt he's decided to swallow as his crying gradually softened, but I was unable to fully grasp it. This was a leader's responsibility, his curse.

I wondered if that leader instincts in him is what lead to my salvation. If I wasn't next to him, next to the car, he would've left on his own. That part sank into me only now, that he didn't even lift a finger or raise his voice in attempt to save the others. He saved his own skin and whoever was around, and that happened to be me.

"I know what you're thinking." He told me, his voice almost going unnoticed within the denseness of my thoughts.

"And what exactly am I thinking?" Caught by surprise, I left the feelings in my voice loose.

"That I'm selfish. That I left them all... to... You get it."

"Funny enough, I was thinking that." There was nothing funny about this situation, my sass was uncalled for, but it always served me as a defense mechanism.

"Figures. I've seen it happen before, and I knew I couldn't step back for them or we would all be gone. Someone's ought to live to tell the tale of the heroes that left us." There it was again, him and calling himself different names. The leader, the teller of tales, the God of his own existence, who knows what he'll come up with. If he wanted to live on for the ones we lost, why did he bring me with him? He could have easily cast me aside.

These dark thoughts were eating me alive, guilt, resentment and a morbid feeling of loss. I saw my blank eyes in the window and I couldn't even have the power to fear myself.

We drove for hours, until the sun started saying his goodbyes to the side of the world. My eyes soon grew heavy and Mr. Park noticed, choosing to stop the car slowly until the engine noise disappeared completely. It all blacked out, right there on the passenger seat.

I woke up from sounds of rustling and feeling something sharp press against my ribs. Upon opening my eyes I noticed it was my own elbow, as Mr. Park was leaned over me, rapidly rotating the wheel on the door to close the window next to me. I was too tired to react, even when I saw that what he was trying to keep out was a snake that somehow tried to find its way inside the car. The animal retracted when it felt being squished by the force of the window, and soon the panic began settling inside me. I looked at the back seats, seeing as the windows were closed - and I told Mr. Park in a quiet voice, that I'll be moving there. He nodded and tried to find comfort again in his cramped seat.

Back there, I threw the backpacks over the seats and took off my shoes to be able to lay on all three seats like a bed. The darkness was in no way soothing, and neither was the cold presence of Mr. Park that was way too quiet in saving my life just now.

I could tell many hours in the day have passed when I woke up the second time. The sun was high in the sky, and Mr. Park was not in the car. Trying to grasp my surroundings, I noticed where he was- we arrived at a supply camp. A lonesome one with no signs of life; our dealers might have abandoned the area after yesterday's incident. I don't have any memories of how we got here, Mr. Park must have continued to drive in the morning without waking me up.

He was underneath the tent's shadow, with two of the backpacks that I was handling yesterday laid before him. He was stuffing something inside them, clothes from what it looked like. All around him were crates of food and stored water, and I thought we hit jackpot.

When I finally felt awake enough, I put my shoes back on and exited the car. The slam of the door alerted Mr. Park and he motioned me over.

"Great, you're awake. Come eat." I could see he made a makeshift table from old wooden crates, a can being already open and emptied. He found me a pair of tableware too, from what it looked like. They were sitting on the other side of the table. I looked through the crates and picked what I thought I would fancy most, quietly sitting down to eat. I didn't realize how hungry I was until food hit my tongue. Mr. Park must've found me funny, as he kept glancing over and smirking.

I watched him stuff the backpacks and carry them back to the car, surprisingly calm.

"Pick what food of these you'd like to eat." He told me, as he was taking cans out of crates and putting different ones in their place.

"Are we leaving so soon?" I asked him, clueless to the hurry.

"This tent is just a piece of cloth. It won't be able to withstand the sandstorms at night. We can't stay here, the car is a lot safer."

"Was our camp any different?" The fork was racking the bottom of the can uncomfortably. "And also, why don't we sleep in the car but stay here?"

"One, yes." He answered me in an organized manner, placing his hands on his hips. His once perfectly arranged hair was now thick with sweat. "Our tent had wooden fortifications. Two, there's no point in staying here. The supplies are only going to last us so long, so if we don't find another camp to settle in it's all useless."

I hummed in response. Crazy enough, I don't think I ever noticed our walls had wood in them. Or if I did, I must've dismissed it. About the second part, I knew he was right, but I didn't voice it out. There was no point in falling into comfort if we're so far from any type of salvation. No one's gonna come looking for us.

We ended up taking as much as he said would be okay with two people in the car. He must be good at math, since it didn't take him long to figure how many crates to take. A cold sweat ran down my spine when he told me this would only last us 5 days.

"We can come back here if need be." That didn't calm me down whatsoever, as it was my habit not to trust this man in the slightest.

No matter how much I complained, we got back into the car after refilling the tank. We couldn't afford to stack a gas canister in the back as well, he told me. There were so many things that could go wrong, but he wasn't listening. We drove again, in that vast emptiness of monotone colours.

Night hit soon after, this time with merciless winds. It was as if all disasters that he called, came to fruition. The idea of taping his mouth shut crossed my mind, and I chuckled darkly. Mr. Park stared at me unknowingly, from the driver's seat where he continued to choose to sleep. What, was he scared he'd hit the shift gear in his sleep if he actually laid down for once?

Morning came, as abruptly as it did the first time. It was now day three, stuck with my camp leader after being the sole survivors of an incident that cost the lives of all of my friends. I tried not falling into those thoughts again, but Mr. Park wasn't the type for chit chat. He would sometimes look over to my side and see my sad expression, but he'd do nothing more than furrow his brows and keep silent.

This time, I was reminiscing about my fiancé, that I lost when it all began. The landscape in front of me seemed to darken, as I could feel rough strings pull at my soul in every direction. I wished he was here, in that driver's seat where Mr. Park is. I wish I could listen to his sensual jazz of poor taste that he loved playing in the car; wish we were driving to a secluded place, where he could take pictures and I could get lost in the nature and recharge.

He wasn't here. The person next to me was Mr. Park, I reminded myself. And the look on his face told me he was plotting something.

"Oh, that's weird." His voice rang from beside me, like an alarm bell.

"What? Do you see something up ahead?" I tried to clear my head and focus on the road again, but I couldn't quite see what he was referring to, it was all fiery and deserted.

"Besides dryness? Not really. I meant your behaviour." I furrowed my brow at his statement and shifted in my seat. I didn't even realize when I crossed my arms over my chest. Great, now he wants to play around.

"My behaviour?"

"You haven't complained today. Yet, that is." In that moment I felt like my only reaction to him these few days has been rolling my eyes.

"You were expecting it, huh?" I mumbled to myself, mostly. I stared out the window to train my eyes on something else besides him. The open window of the car did nothing to soothe my sweat-stained clothes.

"Always and forever." He replied, and I glanced back at him to see his devilish smirk.

"You're just a twisted attention seeker."

"And attention I shall get." He tapped his fingers on the wheel as I gave him a scoff and wished I could just jump out of the car. But I figured I wouldn't be able to survive on my own. After a minutes of staring out the window and seeing the exact same orange-red landscape, I thought I should entertain him.

"My butt hurts and I'm famished." He looked amused at my words.

"We should wait a little before we eat lunch." His voice was calm, as if he was waiting to say that.

"Yeah so I figured, so I didn't say anything." I hated the fact that we fell into a rhythm. That our thoughts were now able to match, and there was nothing more to complain about. It felt like I was losing to him.

"I can't do anything about your butt pain though." Leader or not, he just received a slap on the arm.

"Careful, I might lose control of the car."

"You won't lose control from a simple slap on the arm!" I yelled at him, but he seemed unmoving with his mocking smile. He was the devil, he really was. He was laughing in my face and I didn't want to accept the fact that this was his way of lifting up the mood. But being mad at him was better than mourning my fiancé, nevertheless.

"For real now, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" He suddenly asked, while I was rummaging in the back for a new shirt to change into.

"Ha-ha, I won't fall for it again." Despite saying that, I still looked. What was slowly unraveling before our eyes was enough for my breath to get stuck in my throat.

"Unbelievable." I mumbled, reaching towards the front seat like I would be able to touch the landscape and poke it to see if it's real.

_What I was seeing, in a crater that grew bigger and wider as we inched towards it, were trees and wildlife._


	2. II

An everlasting green was bright and raw in front of us. The crater was huge - the other end of it wasn't visible with the naked eye, much alike the right wall. The only thing that we could see was the left one, going down from the ground level we were at right now until deep into the green liveliness.

From the looks of it, it was a rainforest - in a crater, in the middle of the desert. No, it didn't make any sort of sense. The trees were high and proud, painted with moss and hanging vines. Birds were flying around with no care in the world. There was movement down there - other animals, probably. But the thickness of nature was hiding its secrets.

"We've found salvation." Once more, I rolled my eyes at him. Although he was somewhat right, if we get down there (emphasis on if) there would be no way back. But I do suppose a rich nature would provide a better home than the desert.

"And how do you imagine we get down there, Mr. Know it all?" I put my hands on my hips and stared into that miracle I still couldn't believe. The green tops of the trees made my heart beat faster.

"Do you see that or am I crazy?" I heard him ask me, in that anxious tone I still found strange coming out of his mouth.

"Oh, I've waited my whole life to tell you you're crazy." Mr. Park rolled his eyes at my remark, and put his hands on my chin to turn my head. I would've swatted his hands away if I wasn't in total awe at what he was showing me. Somewhere in the distance, on the side of the crater, there were stairs. Made out of soil. A clear path from here to down into the forest.

Before we knew it, we were racing each other to where we supposed those stairs began. It took a while so we slowed down, but we eventually found it - a patch of earth covered by very dried branches. He pulled them to the side and inside the hole was a ladder, clearly man made. He tested it with his foot then hurried down it. He grinned at me once he was down, a clear enough sign for me to follow him. To my surprise, I felt his hands on my back guiding me softly to the ground. When I turned around to him it was like he didn't even realize it, he was too enthralled by what opportunities laid before us.

From right outside the hole we came from, those soil-made stairs were offering a slow descent to ground level. The stairs have become more of a ramp though, as they lost shape - I guessed they must've been made some time ago and washed off by heavy rain.

The first step that I took into the forest brought the crunch of branches and leaves under my feet. That sound alone fuelled my soul; an old flame ignited inside me. Looking over at Mr. Park, that same euphoria was written all over his face. Before I knew it, he broke into a light sprint on the path before us. I chuckled to myself and followed him.

Creepy crawlies were all around us - insects of all sorts, with wings, with more legs than I'd like or no legs at all. As disgusting as they were, they made me feel at ease. We passed by various forms of mushrooms, berries and so forth. We decided against touching any of them.

The paths winded and we did have to make a few choices - which led me to believe this place was bigger than I first imagined. But the crossways always had some sort of tree trunk plastered in the middle - almost like someone marked the way before. If only we knew which was the sign for the right path. Or what the right path was supposed to lead to.

In truth, we had no idea where we were going or what we were looking for. Call it exploring, if you will.

We didn't really talk much, other than a few 'be careful's and 'this way's. However, at one point I heard Mr. Park call out to me, as he stopped in the front of me, in the middle of the path.

"Hey, do you feel that?" He was all smiles when I looked at him. His grin resembled one of a child.

"Feel what?"

"It's cold!" He exclaimed, latching onto my arms. I took a second of silence, enough to allow the wind to caress my arms. I felt goosebumps on my skin.

"It's freezing!" I found myself matching his enthusiasm. For that moment, I forgot how stupid it all sounded. This was something I dreamed of, _daily_.

Mr. Park then pulled me into a hug. I felt awkward in his embrace, but I could imagine the happiness that surged through him right now. I heard a deep chuckle resonate above my ear, and realized he was laughing.

"You're not gonna cry again, right?" I joked, patting him on the back.

"I just might." He joked back, and another laugh blossomed from him.

_The sound of his laugh wasn't so bad, I thought._

As the sky grew darker and darker, we eventually came down from our high, realizing it might actually be a bad thing that it's cold. It was also very wet everywhere- and it's not like we had a place to stay the night either, even if we still had some canned food with us. We eventually came to an open enough separation between the trees, and both robotically stopped there.

"Should we make a fire?" I asked him, rubbing one of my cold arms. The raise of his eyebrows was enough to tell me, but how do you intend to do that? I rummaged through my trunks and found it- a white lighter with a green bird design. I showed it to him and his eyes seemed to sparkle. "But it doesn't have a lot of gas left in it, so if we want it to last, we should find something really flammable."

That's how our search began. He was getting dry sticks and I was searching for tree moss, somewhat shielded from the precipitations of the area. With just a small spark from my lighter, the moss caught flame and then that flame slowly ate away at the sticks. We were then faced with a fire, seated on a piece of fallen bark. I was staring at my lighter, caressing the wings of that green bird like it just allowed us to fly.

"I used to be a smoker." I told him, and he hummed, piecing it together. "My fiancé always told me to quit, and then the apocalypse happened. I guess he'd be happy that I can't have nicotine anymore." I was smiling, almost feeling the soothing touch of my fiancé patting my back.

"You must've loved him a lot." Mr. Park was smiling at me, but there was some sadness in his voice. He probably realized it was a sensitive subject for me.

"I did." I took a pause."What about you?"

"I haven't had a lover in a long time."

"I can see why." I heard him click his tongue, poking the fire with a stick. His brow was furrowed, and he suddenly got up and found a resting place with his back against a tree, closing his eyes. His silence troubled me.

"Was that too mean?" He opened his eyes to look at me again, sighed and brought his knees to his chest.

"I'm used to it." I wanted to apologize, but the words didn't come to me. For the past days, I could see that he wasn't as bad as I made him out to be, but something in my heart didn't let me forgive him. I called out his name, but he didn't answer. From the uneven raise of his chest, I could tell he wasn't asleep, just pretending not to hear me. Maybe it was for the best.

Morning came easily, and it looked like we were both in one piece, surprisingly. No wild animal found its way towards us last night. Our breakfast was unusually chatty, as Mr. Park was filled with curiosity and wanted to explore further and in every direction - he even did as much as pull out a paper to mark a map with a redish rock he found that apparently could write. He didn't bring up what happened last night, even if I still felt bad about it; I didn't know if he was over it or just pretending. Perhaps he just didn't want us to be enemies in a situation like this.

We continued on right after eating, and while walking through the same, repeating masses of nature, we caught the scent of something peculiar. A stale smell, fishy in more than one way. We followed it and the flora changed gradually, until the air itself became more musty.

What lain before us was a lake. A blue, sparkling lake which oozed that refreshing chill I so sought the last year.

"And how are we supposed to get across this?" Why was I the one always asking the dumb, rhetorical questions?

"We swim. Since we can see the other side, I don't think it'll be that difficult. " He was already taking off his shirt and boots and securing them in his backpack that he threw on the water.

"Can't we just walk around it?" I say reluctantly, pushing a stone with my boots.

"And miss the chance to splash around in a body of water I haven't seen in a year?"

"Right." I said sternly. As fun as it sounded, I still couldn't just dive in with no worries.

"Oh come on. It's a crystal clear lake, not a swamp. There's no crocodiles." I scoffed at him. Like I couldn't see that for myself. It wasn't deadly alligators that I was scared of. And most exasperating of all, was his attitude.

"You're acting like a 5 year old."

"In a world where all buildings sank to the ground and society went to hell, who's there to tell me to act older than 5?" I decided to give in, eventually. He was too stubborn.

"You better not pull any tricks on me. I panic in deep water." I told him, sincerely. I've fought this fear my entire life, so it wasn't easy to just get over myself because he's being a brat.

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"You betta." He reached his hand towards me and I entered the water at my own pace. Thankfully, it wasn't that deep and I could actually enjoy both swimming and walking in that cool temperature.

Truthful to his words, it didn't take long to reach the other side, where we could dry off. I kept wanting to talk to him, about my horrible remark from last night, but seeing the happy state he was in right now I couldn't. He looked like a different man, like he was finally enjoying life for once.

"Let's find a place to camp at... preferably farther away from the lake. We don't have the luxury of mosquito repellant." I nodded at him, barely visibly. Something was buzzing off of him, and it was almost magical. His wet hair was still dripping down his neck, painting his shirt with a darker colour just as the old patches dried. He was using his combat knife that he took from the supply camp to cut vines and bushes that stood in our way. I figured he must've watched a lot of survival shows in his free time.

Some time later, when we faced a bifurcation again, one of them was marked with a stone. It looked like marble, grey and a little covered in moss, but it bore the symbol of a snake forming a spiral. We had no idea what it was, but by the look on Mr. Park's face, he must've thought that was the 'right way' since we kept following the mysterious stones through the forest. Turns out, there were far more than we expected - maybe we just took the wrong path all along.

As it was getting dark again, we decided to call it a night next to one of those stones. It also proved to be a great clothes hanger. As we ate, Mr. Park became chatty, telling me wonders about some of the animals we've seen so far. He even apologized for not knowing too much about plants - although, he bragged, he knew how to find 'some' edible ones. However, the guilt inside of me started bubbling up as he talked and talked; and I realized it was all such small talk, somehow even the fact that he knew survival tricks seemed so much like him - that I was getting frustrated. I couldn't understand this man since I didn't know anything major about him, only what he let me know.

"About last night, what did you mean by 'used to it'? Have people always treated you badly?" He sighed deeply before glancing back at me. I felt awkward as the look on his face changed, from the radiant of today to the darkness of yesterday night.

"Would telling you make you feel better?" I could see it on him; he was actually weighting the options.

"Probably. It would be nice to be able to understand you, somewhat. But I won't be able to unless you talk to me."

"Well, since we're stuck together and this atmosphere is most unpleasant, it's probably the best thing to do." He slapped his hands together and dusted them off on his pants, as if he was mentally preparing himself. "Here goes nothing." He added, then his lips began moving without stop. "It's not that- it's more like I treated everyone badly.

Growing up, my father was always a troubled man; he had a lot of responsibilities. When my mom left us, he blamed it on me. That I was too much to handle for her. That I was the reason of her hardship. He later re-married but the blame never shifted from me on that matter. I grew up knowing that I brought grief- even if I later realized it wasn't my fault, and so I found solace in music. Because I knew music made others happy. I wanted to make my family, my friends happy. But I didn't succeed, and before I knew it, I spend college depressed and leading towards a life I couldn't deny. My dad hired me, and I got promoted higher and higher - but I saw the unhappy faces of all my subordinates, and asked my dad what I could do about it, how I can fix that hurt I cause. He told me, 'Someone needs to be the bad guy. That's how people realize how happy they are and how much they actually have. By having it taken away from them.' That's how who I am became normal to me. Because I couldn't bear having another person bear the pain of it." I didn't realize how enticed I was in his story until silence struck. I bit my lip as he was fidgeting.

"Sorry for being the villain in your story as well." He bowed his head before me and closed his eyes, as if he was expecting a death strike from a henchman.

"Your honesty is greatly appreciated." I told him softly. Things were making a lot more sense now, and I could say that for the first time in forever, I was content with him.

"If only honesty would be enough for forgiveness." Shadows grew darker on his face, our fire doing nothing in brightening them. It was almost painful.

"You never know, Mr. Park."

"Jinyoung. Please drop the Mr., I'm not anyone's boss anymore. And honestly it's... very liberating." That smile he wore, it was genuine. Filled with sadness.

I chuckled at him lightly before preparing for sleep. In truth, I don't think I can call him that yet. It would mean total acceptance, comfort even. This story enlightened my doubts, but I still needed time to think it over before my trust and respect could reach that level.

The next morning we took on the same old task of following those never-ending stones. At one point, I've started to think that there was no end to them - like we weren't going to end up gaining anything from this. Nothing special was happening, either. We had fallen into a false sense of boredom, like the impending doom was far away now.

On the bright side, that gave me a lot of time to think; think about how Mr. Park has been misguided in life and the evil of his parents turned into his own self destruction, radiating onto others. I've even wondered, if he ever felt true happiness before in his life. If he's known friendship, love, acceptance and accomplishments. But as I called him Jinyoung earlier, something sparkled in his eyes again - like a silent thank you.

Brought out of my own little world, I noticed Jinyoung started humming a song. It seemed oddly familiar, and I was humming along with him before I knew it, quietly. He didn't seem to notice that I was, only that it made me smile. Therefore, like he always does, he upped the bar and started singing actual words and that's when I stopped frozen in my tracks, a cold shiver running down my spine.

"I'm coming home..." He kept on singing, and I was sure of it.

"Jinyoung?" I called out to him, and he turned around to notice I was far behind him.

"What happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost." He added with a chuckle, making his way back to me.

"How do you know this song?" He was surprised at my question, but bore a nostalgic smile as he answered me.

"It's one of the songs I wrote with my childhood friend back when we believed we could become musicians. Why?" The story was adding up - he also did mention that he pursued music at one point in his life. But I didn't want to believe it was true.

"Childhood friend... become musicians?" I kept mumbling, running thousands of scenarios in my head. Before I knew it, I was shouting at him, a wave of adrenaline taking over my body as I realized that Jinyoung had a lot of connections; he was always in contact with other camps through our radio. "Do you know anything about him now?!"

"You didn't answer my question." He said nonchalantly, but I wasn't having any of it.

"You answer me!" The shock was apparent as he blinked at me, multiple times. He raised his hands up in defeat.

"Alright, alright. No, I haven't. We separated during college. I went to accounting and he followed his dream of becoming a photographer. Lim Jaebeom was his name. One hell of lucky guy."

A large sense of dread sent tingles all around my body from hearing that name - it has been way too long, I was getting dizzier by the second and my heart was drumming out of chest.

"You are talking about my fiancé." I told him coldly, through gritted teeth even. I don't know why I was so mad at him. He didn't even do anything wrong - or so I thought, until he began talking again.

"Oh, double lucky."

"What?"

"He followed his dream and got a woman too? It's all a man could have asked for." I sighed at his lame remark, and he changed the subject. "I'm guessing you guys got separated during the crisis."

"Yeah, I was at work that night, and he was at home. I'm afraid he might not have... woken up..." The words hurt to be said. Thinking of him, his kind smile and soft laugh - it tore my heart. I wasn't there when he needed me the most and I still regret it. There probably isn't a day in which I could simply say 'I'm over it.'

"Such a shame." No, my ears weren't deceiving me. Jinyoung just called the death of my fiancé 'a shame'.

"Such a shame?! That's all you have to say?" His sentence did in no way classify as something you should say to comfort someone. After seeing he shrugged his shoulders at me, I couldn't help the insult. "You really are insufferable."

"I haven't seen him in years, what do you want me to do, cry?" He didn't even look phased at me this time.

"Sympathize, dammit! He was the lover of the person you're stuck with in this mess, and he WAS your friend, no matter how long ago!" I raised my tone at him again, probably with all the fierceness I had in me. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for your loss, and I wish I could have seen him once more. Seen you in better times, happier." I opened my mouth to speak about how he's a butt kisser, but before I could, the end of his sentence reached my brain and suddenly I was confused.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Should we keep going or do you want to rest?" He shrugged me off again, and the look on his face told me he was already over the conversation.

"Let's keep going." I told him, determined. I needed the walk so I could sulk like a child and glare at the back of his neck as I try to forget this ever happened. What could have Jaebeom ever seen in this guy to be his friend? He doesn't even care that he's gone.

Jinyoung tried, in his own way, to make me feel better, with his light teasing or trying to make me concentrate on something else. It didn't work very well, and I made sure to let him know - I was either glaring at him or answering everything coldly.

I kicked a rock as I was walking and didn't notice when Jinyoung put up an arm in front of me. I got a sense of deja-vu, as he did the same thing when he saved me a few days ago. An action that I was somehow starting to regret.

"What type of stupid joke are you gonna make now?" I asked him, pulling his hand away. He simply pointed a finger at something between the tree branches and I was once again left speechless - questioning the ways of nature.

_What looked like a massive, marble temple was sitting right in front of us. Inside it, buzzed life - voices of maybe dozens of strangers were faintly dancing in our ears._


	3. Chapter 3

We hid behind the trees and advanced closer to the peculiar structure. It was gigantic, with a clear, clean path leading up to stairs that formed a platform before the entrance to the temple. Several side entries could be seen. Around it were structures of all sorts, crafting tables, outdoor dining areas and sheds. People roamed around there, and to the sides, large plantations were being taken care of by farmers. It looked like we had found heaven on this forsaken earth.

"Let's be careful. We don't know if they're dangerous or not." Jinyoung took the lead, stepping out from in between the trees. The moment the humans saw us, he hid me behind his back. But these people, the equipment they tinkered with... compasses and maps? They were wearing camouflage trunks and hats, like some sort of researchers. One of the ones from the far back spun towards us and he suddenly turned all smiles.

"Boss!" He exclaimed, dropping his utensils and running towards us.

"Youngjae?" Jinyoung asked him, and I could tell they knew each other.

"Glad to see you alive and well, sir!" His smile seemed warm and inviting, but he seemed a little too enthusiastic to see Jinyoung considering what he's told me about his past. 

"What is this place?" Jinyoung asked the man, his voice dropping low and cold as if it was an order. Habits, perhaps. Youngjae didn't seem fazed.

"Sir, do you remember that my dad is an archeologist?" Jinyoung took a second to think, but he eventually frowned and nodded.

"I think you told me so, yes."

"Well, they found an artifact one day- in the form of a snake. They spent years trying to open it, and eventually they gave up." He explained, gesturing. Still, I had no idea where his story was heading. "However, the artifact opened by itself a few months before the calamity happened. It spoke of the Earth shedding its skin like a snake, of complete renewal of life. It also bore a map, spoke of a safe haven - and with the paid vacation you so generously gave me, I came here with my dad and his team. We found this, and together with all the rumbles felt in the earth, we had no choice but to believe it; that the world as we know it will come to an end, and we just found the Promised Land."

"So this is practically a cult." I found myself saying, without any type of embarrassment. Alike what happened in the last week, this was a pill a little too hard to swallow.

"Well, we like to call ourselves the Foretellers, sometimes." He said and then laughed. "But it all proved to be true, didn't it?"

"So this place, it won't sink?" I asked him, trying to see if I understood correctly. A safe heaven, earth shedding its skin? It all seemed nonsense.

"No, it won't. Soon, the world will crack open and this is gonna become the new living level. Of course, you might wonder, but will it be livable? With the information we gathered from the murals and relics, we were able to deduce that the Earth will indeed lose some mass, urging it to spin faster than before, reducing a day's hours to around 18. But this is no end, this is a means of renewal."

"This is... hard to believe, if I may." Jinyoung said, de-tensing his shoulders and letting go of my arm.

"It might be, but it's all that we have right now. It's better to have false hope than despair, right?"

"You are, not wrong." I reply. The man named Youngjae beamed at me.

"Here, let me show you guys around! You're gonna need long sleeves soon tho - it gets chilly in the temple at night." He said, as if he just decided that we were gonna live here from now on.

We followed his lead, on the path towards the temple. People gave us curious looks, but not the bad kind. Some even waved and smiled at us - they were probably happy to see some new, alive faces.

The interior of the temple looked like one broken from movies. It had all kinds of designs and murals, as if it was the work of an alien force. Everything was tidy and symmetric, almost inhumanly.

Some of the rooms were research sites. I was right in assuming they were some sort of science men- and they were very passionate about it, too. It felt somewhat reliable.

I was mostly blanking out, looking at the drawings on the walls. Jinyoung and Youngjae were talking fervidly beside me, but I didn't catch much of their conversation. Before I realized it, Youngjae was warmly presenting us with a room in the temple - it was mostly empty, but it bore two marble rectangular shapes, which he explained, are the beds. He told us the craft's men in the settlement prepared multiple sheets and blankets from the wool of the sheep they were herding - and they'd arrange us a place to stay in no time.

But it all seemed so sudden. Although stupid, I wasn't as eager as Jinyoung to just agree and settle down. Perhaps it was how used I became to not having a place to call home. The tent base wasn't necessarily a home either, just a temporary solution to a crisis. But if what Youngjae says is true, then this place is forever standing and I might need to get used to a new family, after I just lost Mark and Yugyeom, the closest people I had to friends, a few days ago.

Maybe one of the hardest parts of settling down is that I have to do it with Jinyoung. He even asked me, what bed do I want. I didn't really care, I was too focused on the fact that we had to share a room after all the anger he made me feel just earlier today. I was not done processing, the fact that he used to know my fiance but didn't care in the least about his passing. Something about him was off - he was cold, but not such an iceberg. It almost seemed like he said it to spite me, to prove a point. I don't know what point it was, to be frank.

Eventually I stopped my internal whining and went outside to greet the habitants. They all seemed like nice people, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure about anyone anymore.

As days passed by, I got to know people better - especially Jinyoung. Surprisingly, Youngjae must be a tough soul because he never felt like Jinyoung was a harsh ruler. Or CEO, to be exact. He told me stories from the office, about Jinyoung's tough love and endless attempts to always fix the broken relationships he had. In the end, I realized, Jinyoung was making himself to be a lot more evil than visible. He was forcing himself into a stereotype.

"Are you still mad at me? Even tho I apologized?" Jinyoung arrived at the table, receiving a confused look form Youngjae. He must've noticed the cold shoulder I've been giving him.

"I didn't believe your apology." I mumbled.

"But I did mean it tho." He told me, looking straight into my eyes - like he was pleading directly to my soul.

"It didn't seem like it."

"I have to work on my honesty." His words sounded hollow, remorseful. "How about you tell me more about it?"

"About Jaebeom?" Caught off guard, I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Yes, I'm curious what my friend's been up to all this time."

I didn't buy it at first, thinking it was all part of the 'I want to make it up to you' shtick. But before I knew it, I sighed and began talking. I told him - all about how I met Jaebeom back when we were still in college. He was taking photography and accidentally stumbled upon the shop I was working part time at - the antiques shop. That's how he, a sucker for vintage beauty, started dating me, a history student who couldn't stop telling the stories of every little thing he was staring at. Jinyoung got immersed in my story, and soon he was asking all sorts of questions about things Jaebeom used to do back in the day - like if he still collected dozens of cat keychains and drank coffee before brushing his teeth. He laughed when he heard his friend didn't change at all. We got interrupted when dinner time came, but around the campfire, he asked me, "Was he a good boyfriend tho?". I answered him a little too energetically, so much so I almost dropped the plate sitting on my knees. He was the best, is what I told him. I remembered dearly how he used to make pancakes for us every weekend, and next to them he'd eat strawberries - and I'd have blueberries, because I was simply obsessed with them.

"He really treated you well." He told me, but this time I could sense he was being sincere. "May he be in peace, wherever he is." Although his comment was sad, I couldn't help but smile. If this was part of his plan to apologize to me, it worked. I didn't feel awkward anymore, going to sleep in the same room as him.

Speaking of sharing a room, it was only a few days later that I woke up to something very peculiar by my bedside - a glass, half-way filled with blueberries. I knew it couldn't have been no one else but him, but he acted so oblivious that day - acted like I couldn't sense his eyes on me from the field as I was eating my breakfast.

It got me thinking, he looked a lot more happier lately, uncharacteristically. After we had some time to adjust to the settlement, we had to be given jobs; and his so happened to be that of a farmer. He didn't seem to mind it though, and I guessed it was because what he previously said about not knowing enough about plants - perhaps he was excited to learn. Me, on the other hand, had some trouble to being assigned work. The women here wanted to take me under their arm and teach me sewing, knitting, spinning wool; but I knew that wasn't for me. I never was a person to like crafting. I suggested that I wanted to join Youngjae and his group of researchers, since I was a history student anyway. The women there flipped at me, like I was talking nonsense. Jinyoung was the one to talk to Youngjae to give me a chance. It has been working out so far, and I love being in the middle of the action, hearing theories about the incredible structure we were living in. I wasn't one to simply accept the situation either, so this was the perfect job for me, even if the women are still a little iffy around me.

Another item in the bag of surprises - besides the berries that have become normal, and I've even caught him placing them on my nightstand - was that Jinyoung has been very attentive to me lately. He always knows when the research timelines keep me up at night with unsolved questions, or when I quarrel with someone around the camp. What's more is that he listens, closely and patiently, to what I have to say. It had gotten to the point where I question if I'm not living with his long lost twin by any chance.

Perhaps he was happy it all worked out in the end. Or he's found some sort of harmony in this place. I couldn't be sure, yet at least.

The answer would come to me a few days after, in the middle of a crisis. I was downstairs with Youngjae when the ruckus began; a raging wild boar came out from the forest and into our clearing.

"Get inside on the upper levels!" Youngjae yelled. Jinyoung ran towards me, whispering something about me being safe.

"All hunters on me!" Youngjae was handed a bow and then weapons pierced through the sky. It was me this time, who had to drag Jinyoung away from the scene and protect him. He seemed frozen in fear, but not of the boar. Of Youngjae, and his steel resolve - the protective shadow that his leadership cast over us.

We climbed to our room, which was fortunately pretty high up. We watched in horror from the window how the beast was killed. No one got badly hurt, which was good. Jinyoung's face was contorted with all kinds of emotions, so in the end he chose to take a rest on the bed.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him, but I wasn't expecting an answer. I knew he was a hard shell to crack.

"It's almost wrong that this feels so right." He told me, rubbing his eyes lazily.

"What exactly?"

"Following orders. Not having control. Living in someone else's shadow. The lives of the people around me are finally not in my hands anymore." I hummed as he said each sentence separately, almost like an enumeration. "I don't have to be afraid anymore - to be scared for others, of others. I can focus on myself and the people I care most about." Once again, he looked like a child; legs crossed, sitting on the bed looking at me innocently and giving me sly hints that he does care about me.

As much as I wanted to be a badass in the situation and make a remark, I felt the blood rush to my face so I raised my hands to cover it. He chuckled, and I realized that no matter how much of a jerk he was, _I was special_. I don't think he would ever say this to anyone else, or laugh the way he does when he's with me.

"Is it selfish? That I want to care about someone specific, rather than worrying about everyone else here?" I was speechless at how honest that question sounded. He really was an infant in life.

"It's not selfish." I told him. "Weird of you, but not selfish." I grinned at him and he rolled his eyes at me, smiling back.

"Well, I should head down to see if they need help skinning that bad boy." He got up from the bed, but before he could exit the room, I let out a lame joke.

"More like bad _boar."_

"Haha, very funny." He replied from the hall, but I could tell from the tone in his voice that he appreciated my bad humor.

I was left in the room to think his words over and over again, until the pieces of his puzzle finally clicked. I never thought it to be possible, but Jinyoung is a man that cares too much in the coldest of ways. Maybe it feels weird to me, who I had a lover before, that he doesn't know that caring for a special person is totally fine - but to him it might be untraveled ground, since he's always had to take care of so many people at once. What I appreciated the most though, out of his words, is that he mentioned caring for himself. I feel like he's never done that, either. This was a start for something great, a friendship of a lifetime, or maybe more. I couldn't deny that now, once the puzzle pieces were almost all together, Jinyoung was forcing some new feelings out of me.

A phenomenon we had to get used to is the loudness of the ruptures in the earth, now that we were at level ground. It always woke us up at night, but tonight it was worse than we've ever heard it; the walls seemed to shake, and I couldn't help the fright in my bones even if I knew I should get used to this natural event.

I found myself staring at the back of Jinyoung's neck as I prayed for things to be alright. I barely heard him sigh, in that horrible noise. He turned around and I saw his open eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"Are you alright?" His husky voice asked me, and I nodded, without knowing if he saw me or not. He looked at me a few seconds more, then closed his eyes. I followed suit, waiting for the rumble to stop and my heart to calm.

In the morning, we were informed that a new path way has opened in the cliff around the settlement. The news was so fresh, yet they were already looking for people to go explore it. Thinking that it was the best way to make believe of this story that was being sold to me, I offered.

"I'll go with her." Jinyoung said abruptly. He caught me by surprise, but I didn't dare ask questions. Maybe he wanted to protect me. Maybe he was bored and wanted to go exploring again, like me.

We set off the next morning, this time equipped with all we needed for easy transversal of the land. It was quiet, peaceful, as our cooperation was no longer troubled by unnecessary quarrels. The path was linear and pretty clean, but we were not ready, once again, for what awaited for us at the clearing. A huge, weeping tree, was waiting right in the middle.

"A tree like this would have taken a thousand years to form... how is it here?" I spoke out loud. It was far more extraordinary than anything we've seen so far. Youngjae's team has always assumed that the safe haven they found has been there for a long time, and that's why there were trees and a temple. But how could this tree be here, if the ground barely opened yesterday?

"Maybe it was always here?" Jinyoung added, squinting his eyes as the sun didn't let him look at the top of the tree.

"Underground?" There was no way for a tree to grow beneath the earth. It deceived all of nature's rules.

"Don't ask me, I'm just as amazed as you." We hurried to look into it farther. Circling the roots, I spotted one of the familiar stones that also littered around the temple. Next to it was an opening that I instantly pointed out to Jinyoung. We crouched between the roots and before we knew, we were walking down marble stairs.

"It's just like the temple..." He muttered to himself, as I brought out the flashlight. Turns out it wasn't needed, as the room we arrived in had a huge light cascading in the middle, like we were at the bottom of a well. Looking around I noticed that this was some sort of central room, leading to multiple side rooms in all directions.

"Living quarters, perhaps?" I asked Jinyoung, who I found to be staring at me, rather than the environment.

"Most likely." He sounded a little monotone as he spoke, as if his mind was completely somewhere else. I brushed it off, since my mind wasn't exactly intact at the moment either.

"Youngjae will be ecstatic when he hears this." I smiled to myself thinking about it. Diving further into the rooms, I inspected the murals and patterns on the walls, and looked to see if there were any 'beds' like the ones in the temple.

"Yeah, when." Jinyoung's unpleased voice startled me. I turned around to him.

"Huh?"

"I was thinking we could stay here a little longer. Spend some time together again." I blinked at his outrageous suggestion. He once again got me completely confused as to what's going on inside that head of his.

"We spend time together at the camp too." I told him calmly, masking my incertitude.

"Yes, but it's not the same." By this point, I was completely lost as to what he was insinuating.

"Yeah, it's less life threatening." I commented, thinking that a joke would help me ease up the air which thickened around us. Turns out I actually hit the nail directly on the head.

"Well, I only get emotional in tough situations. And it would be great, to be able to open up again." My heart sort of quivered thinking of it.

"So you need danger and me as a witness to let out your feelings?" I didn't mean it to sound mean, and hopefully he didn't take it the bad way as the only thing he could do is agree.

"Pretty much so."

I grabbed his hand and lead him back to the center room, where we could sit on the rocks heated by the sun. I also wanted to be able to see his face if we are to have this sort of discussion.

"Why don't you just, ... talk?" I asked him, after we settled down comfortably.

"It's easier said than done - I'm not the talking type." He sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

"But you talked to me. Multiple times."

"Yeah, because you knew how to make me talk."

"I don't think I did anything special? I showed interest, mainly. _I want you to talk to me_."

He squinted at me as his cheeks raised in a boxy smile. I don't think he was satisfied with my answer, but he began talking shortly after.

"Alright so... Youngjae wants me to become his co-leader. And I don't think I'm ready to jump into it again, become the villain when everything seemed to be so peaceful-" I clicked my tongue and apparently that was enough to interrupt his rant.

"That's the problem, you see. There doesn't necessarily need to be a villain. Even the Planet turned out to have good intentions by breaking down." With the curiosity of a kitten, he seemed to choose his next words very carefully.

"So you think I'm capable of... keeping people happy?" I didn't realize my chest became tight until I tried speaking to answer him.

"I do. We all are."

"But how?" His voice was frail, but it started sounding a little more hopeful.

"Be more considerate, more open. Explain your thoughts, show that you care. Try seeing what brings a smile to their faces. Remind them they can count on you, but don't belittle them." He hummed, seemingly concentrated in making a mental list of what I just said. Then came the next questions.

"How do I figure out if something will make them happy or not?"

"You can ask them if they agree with you or not. Teamwork makes the dream work." He side eyed my cringey line, but then he went completely quiet. I had nothing special to say to break the silence, but by the looks of it he wanted to say something else. I figured patience was the way to go with him, so I waited for him to speak again.

"So, will confessing my feelings make you happy?"

A false hope sparkled into me at the sound of those words - although feelings could mean anything.

"What?"

"If it won't, I'll shut up. But if you're content, I wish to become your lover. I want to learn how to make you happy."

At that moment, it was like a door just opened in front of me. This new resolve, it brought excitement to my veins and tingles in my fingers. Feelings bubbled to the surface, ones I thought would never see the light of day. He was so different- his clothes were all but whole, he was covered in dirt and his hair was in every which way- he looked wild, we both did. Like we were back to much simpler times.

For the first time, I didn't complain. I didn't push him away. I opened up my arms and embraced him, as his lips did the same to mine. The light was shining down like a fountain, tainting our faces.

All this time, I thought Mr. Park Jinyoung was annoying for acting like he was the entire world. But now, I think I was able to understand it. Jinyoung, just like the world, was shedding his old skin and trying to renew himself.

It had been about 5 months, although time really did begin to flow differently. Youngjae's research was right, and we were currently busy making new calendar schematics. The tables were a mess, crayons were rolling off to the ground, but I didn't have a care in the world. When the sun began to set, I cleaned after myself and ran to the field, where Jinyoung was waiting for me patiently, his dirt covered hands sneaking around me in a warm embrace.

Last night, we had the most outrageous conversation that made me realize how well we fit. He wanted a child, he said. He wants to become a father totally unalike the one he had. I also strongly wished to be a mother, but the chance was taken away from me. He was my second chance, I thought - at living the life I always dreamed of, but even better. It was crazy, thinking that we barely stopped hating each other not even half a year ago, but I couldn't help the strong desire that I had for this pipe dream to come true.

Later that day, we heard loud voices as people ran over to what looked like two silhouettes in the distance. One of them was limping, from the looks of it. Coming closer, I was once again hit with that fantasy like sensation, that it couldn't be true.

"He's hurt!" Yugyeom screamed, and Youngjae immediately called the medic.

Yugyeom and Mark were alive, and right in front of me; I was frozen while Jinyoung dropped everything and ran to support Mark's other shoulder, Yugyeom having a mixed expression of reluctance and amazement. He wouldn't believe the changes that happened in the last few months.

Bambam, a Thai young man from our settlement ran over to Mark's side with medical supplies almost falling from his bag. Although young, bubbly and loud, he was utmost serious when it came to helping others.

"What happened?" Bam asked Yugyeom, who was undecided who to stare at - me, Jinyoung, or Bam's face.

"A new rupture occurred when we were making our way here. Rocks fell over us and trapped us, and I'm afraid Mark's knee might have been damaged when I pulled him out of the rubble." He was anxious, regretful. Bambam nodded at him, rolling up Mark's trousers. His knee was indeed, unsightly.

"We need to tell the others." Mark quietly said, his voice groggy and filled with pain.

"Others?" I asked, moving behind Yugyeom who's eyes were shaking from the blood before his eyes. He was always so kind and sweet, I guessed he was destroyed from having his hyung hurt this way.

"We were with two other people-" Yugyeom began telling, turning around to face me. I knew it was so he wouldn't have to face Mark anymore. "a Chinese man named Jackson,"

"An old friend of mine." Mark added, and we all nodded. I think I might have heard stories about him.

"- and a man with long black hair and two moles on his brow." My breath hitched, Jinyoung's arm suddenly holding me tighter and tighter until I felt like I was suffocating-

Then Yugyeom spoke a name that I never thought I'd hear again.

"I think his name was Lim Jeabeom."

The world suddenly span around and I clutched my head in pain. Jinyoung looked angry and took me away, bringing up a lie about how I am sensitive to the sight of blood. He brought me to our room in the temple, the chill temperature easing the sweat that ran down my spine at the sound of that name.

"Is this it?" He said, plopping down on the bed next to me with a sigh. He looked discouraged, the anger from before washed off.

"No, of course it isn't." I told him calmly, even if I wasn't sure myself.

This is a test of faith, if I've ever seen one. It got me wondering, is this my time to realize how much Jinyoung has changed? How much of a better man he has become, and how much he cares for me? Is it finally time to bury the past for real?

After the selfish act of running away without my lover so long ago, I never thought I would recover, let alone love again. I was the subject of my own hatred, until a certain Park Jinyoung crashed into my life and took that title away from myself. He was suddenly everything that I despised and more, a calm saviour which I could never be. However every selfish choice he made, it reminded me of what being human actually was. Perhaps it was meant to be- I was meant to learn from him and vice versa.

Nothing lasts forever, he always used to say.

I don't want to say that back to him - but it is time I tell it to my past.

"His ring is off my finger, Jinyoung. It's time you replace it." The smile that painted his face was one worth of utter pureness. He enveloped me into his arms full of love, and I almost forgot who Jaebeom even was.

The next day, Mark's knee was all patched up and he was conscious enough to talk with us. Yugyeom had apparently never left his side. BamBam was all smiles when he began telling me how Yugyeom seems like such a nice guy. I patted him on the back and agreed, and we headed towards them with YoungJae tagging along.

BamBam brought Mark fresh water, which he gulped down in a fast manner. Seems like he's been having troubles with a fever ever since he got the injury, but Bam's careful treatment managed to tone it down.

"So, how did you two survive?" Jinyoung's question was merely innocent and out of curiosity, but it wasn't taken lightly by Yugyeom, which sent him a glare equivalent to 'Not with your help, for sure.' At the youngest's ill mannered look, Jinyoung cowered into my shoulder. This was still one of the mistakes from his past that he had to fix, and I could sense his nervousness in the way that he was squeezing my hand in his.

At seeing Jinyoung act so homely around me, Yugyeom feigned surprise again. He didn't seem to understand the situation, but Mark did.

"You guys are dating now, right?" Taken back by Mark's question, Jinyoung relaxed and let his smile slip up on his face, along with eyes that sparkled with pride. "Makes sense why'd you save her."

I felt even more awkward by the second. I had no idea if Jinyoung had any sort of feelings for me before this started, let alone if he saved me intentionally, not just because he had the opportunity to. Still, the idea of being considered more important than the other people at our camp makes my bones shiver.

"I'm happy for you, really." Mark added, and I didn't know if he was being sincere or sarcastic given the situation his knee was in. "You've always handled leadership on your own, in such a self destructive manner... I was never mad at you for your decision. I'm glad everything paid off in the end, actually." He gave us a toothy smile that truly brightened up the room. "You have to make it up to Yugyeom, tho." The youngster pouted at Mark's words, but his boxy smile gave away that he was feeling awkward and possibly agreed with his hyung.

"I surely will." With those heartfelt words, the air cleared and after a few more jokes, they finally began talking about their journey.

"We really did think it was all over. Until we opened our eyes, that is. Believe me when I say, I was so shocked to wake up - more so to hear the water, feel the coolness of it. I was drenched to the bone, and Yugyeom next to me was desperately trying to light a fire, but there weren't many wood sources there."

"So there was a water body beneath our camp?" I asked, perplexed. Then, Yugyeom took away the talking.

"Apparently. I couldn't believe it either, when I saw blue underneath me as I was falling. I managed to dive correctly and rise to the surface, but Mark Hyung lost conscience when he hit the water. I helped him to the shore. And yeah, there wasn't much I could do about drying us. In the end we had to go like that, hoping we could get to a higher place with direct sunlight.

We followed the river bank and it wasn't long before we met the other hyungs."

"Jaebeom and Jackson." At hearing Mark say those names, something shook in me again. But it wasn't as grave as before. "They apparently made it there with a helicopter, from the city. They saw a crater and the green inside it, and thought it was their best shot."

"Another crater? Like this one?" Youngjae finally spoke, probably scared that his prophecy could be proven wrong.

"Not nearly as big as this one. It housed some animals and such, but there was no temple - just wildlife. This is definitely the place to be." At that, Youngjae let out a sigh.

It could possibly make sense that Jaebeom managed to escape our apartment and met up with this Jackson Wang, whom, from what I heard, was a successful athlete. It doesn't seem farfetched, but how did he get out of our home? How did he know Jackson? Was it also, by mere chance, that he was saved?

"How did you get separated?" Bambam spoke this time, although he's been quiet this entire time.

"Like we said, a new crater opened. Mark and I were hunting when it happened. We got stuck in the debris and the path back to where we set camp was blocked. With some climbing equipment, the barrier could be overcome and we could rescue them." Such hopeful words, this kid spoke.

I felt bad for troubling BamBam after all he's been through with Mark. He must be exhausted, I thought. But the dizziness spells have been getting more frequent over the last days, and Jinyoung was dead worried about me. So I decided to let Bam do a check up - maybe it was just a sun stroke. It wouldn't be the first time.

He kept asking me questions - what does this dizziness come with? Headaches? Yes. Light headedness? Yes. Nausea? Only slightly. He then did a physical examination, and before I knew it, he dropped the last bomb on me, and I realized how dumb I was.

Jinyoung was ecstatic at the news - his dream was coming true. And so was mine, if I were to be honest. This was exactly what I wanted. We will become parents, make the best of this life that has been presented to us. Well, I had my concerns about giving birth, but Bam is an extraordinary doctor - it will be fine. This is perfect, I thought. If I waited much longer, I might have missed my health window for being a mother.

We stood up all night in the comfort of our bed, discussing baby names. I never thought he'd already have some names on his mind, and that he'd be so stubborn about it too. I don't remember if we actually decided on something, because I was too tired and I blacked out.

We both woke up late the next day. Commotion alerted us of something going on outside, and we really hoped it was nothing bad.

A mass of people was gathered at the wooden table and benches. Chatter was all around us, and before I knew it someone was calling my name and walking towards me.

His hair was longer than I ever remembered it. He still had that same, carefree aura, that made him seem all the more royal. Clothes don't make the men, indeed, because no matter what Jaebeom was wearing - how long his hair was, he was still the same man I fell in love with 6 years ago.

He pulled me into a hug, and suddenly I was enveloped in that same old scent, those broad shoulders that shielded me from anyone and anything. I clung back to him without noticing.

When he pulled back, his hands caressed my cheeks as he stared into my eyes. I felt the cold metal of his ring on his left hand and realized he never lost it - unalike me, who took it off for another man.

"You're still as beautiful as ever." He told me, his nasal voice bringing me back to memories long forgotten.

He was leaning in closer towards me, but a hand landed on his arm, yanking it down from my face. Jinyoung and Jaebeom stared at each other as recognition mixed with something else in their eyes.

Jinyoung stepped in front of me and as I clung to him, the confusion in Jaebeom's eyes was replaced with anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohoho look at that open ending. Yes, if you're wondering... that's the end.


End file.
